THE LONGREACH Powerhouse Museum is a community history project of the Longreach Shire Council and displays the local history of Longreach and district.

The museum, in Swan Street, is open weekdays from 2.00pm to 5.00pm from November to March and seven days from April to October.

One of the biggest features of the museum is the Heritage-listed power station containing the largest preserved rural generating facility in Australia.

Within this building are displays showing how electric power in Western Queensland was generated, how it was distributed to homes and industry and how the distribution network was maintained before the age of computers. The machinery housed in this building is huge and unique to Queensland.

A self-guided tour through this building gives you an insight into the difficulties of maintaining an electricity supply in remote regions along with the heat and noise that the workers endured. Also inside the complex is a display showing relics of the businesses of Longreach. Exhibits from Western Motors and Stevo’s Pie Kitchen are a special treat and help you appreciate the pace and way of life not so long ago. A special children’s corner is available within the generating complex to present the basics of electricity generation to children in an appealing and entertaining way.

Beside the power station is the Social History Building with its exhibits and photographs depicting an era which is now long gone.

Here, you can listen live to aircraft flying in the district from the old Longreach flight control centre, remember your schooldays (or those of your parents) in the 1948 classroom, reflect on the trials of the district’s pioneering men and women in the School of Arts Room and enjoy the special displays which are changed throughout the year. The first of these is an exhibition of Easter gifts from the 1950s and the last is a selection of Christmas presents from years gone by.

The town’s first swimming pool was constructed beside the power station in 1921, next to the town’s first bore. The pool is beside the Social History Building and still in good condition. It was filled in during the 1980s, but a special project not so long ago saw an excavation and ‘archaeological dig’. Some of the treasures found during this excavation are on display in the generating complex.

The Longreach Powerhouse Museum also has a shop where you can buy souvenirs and pick up tourist information.

Longreach Visitor Information Centre Qantas Park, Eagle Street, Longreach Qld 4730 Phone (07) 4658 4150 Email: visitinf@longreach.qld.gov.au Website: www.longreach.qld.gov.au